Caribbean
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HBO Max expands beyond the US to 39 new territories
As it announced earlier this year, HBO Max is finally moving outside the US, expanding to 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean.
HBO Max will be available outside the US in June
HBO Max is close to expanding out the US with plans to bring it to 39 Latin American and Caribbean territories in June.
Verizon becomes first US carrier to offer roaming in Cuba
Verizon announced on Thursday that it will begin offering call, text and data access to customers visiting the Caribbean nation as part of its Pay-As-You-Go International Travel option. The plan will charge $3 a minute for voice, standard international messaging rates and a whopping $2.05 per megabyte. That means you'd be on the hook for more than two grand if you used a gigabyte of data while on the island. At those rates, you'd be better off bringing a pocket full of change and taking your chances with a public pay phone. This announcement comes on the heels of T-Mobile's declaration that it is expanding its Simple Global plan to 20 more countries (though not Cuba). [Image Credit: Getty Images]
Google Maps Navigation for Android makes its way to 25 more countries
Eager to go on a driving trip to an exotic locale? You'll be glad to hear that Google Maps Navigation is now available in 25 more countries. Most of the additions are in Africa, including Libya, Somalia and Tunisia. The rest of the coverage is scattered across the globe: Caribbean travelers can find their way through Guadeloupe and Haiti, while European visitors can navigate Andorra, Croatia and Serbia. There's even support for relatively remote places like Bhutan and Vanuatu. Maps Navigation still isn't a truly global service when it reaches 99 countries, but it now reaches far enough that it will be a surprise if you can't get your bearings while traveling abroad.
iPhone 5 launches in Africa, Caribbean and Southeast Asia
Apple CEO Tim Cook promised during the last earnings conference call that the iPhone 5 would be available in 100 countries worldwide by the end of year and the recent December 21 launch of the phone in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Caribbean helped the company reach that milestone. According to Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Apple 2.0, Apple's latest handset quietly debuted in St. Kitts, Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Uganda. Apple didn't announce this end-of-the-year roll out, but one local report suggests the launch of the phone was greeted with a small line of eager customers.
Is Apple avoiding taxes in the UK?
The Daily Mail is reporting that Apple only paid £10 million in UK corporation tax for the last fiscal year, even though the country earned £6 billion in the UK. The paper has also accused Amazon and Google of UK tax avoidance as well. The report also discusses Apple's operations in Ireland, where the corporate tax is half that of the UK, and a Caribbean-based location. Apple has previously lobbied for a one-year "tax holiday" in the US, hoping to bring some of its overseas cash stockpile back to the US.
Netflix lands in Brazil, 43 other Latin American countries within the week
Netflix promised our friends in Central and South America would soon be able to enjoy the pleasures of Watch Instantly. Starting today with Brazil, and with 43 other Latin American countries to follow before September 12th, the pioneering streaming video service is making good on that promise. Customers in the land of Carnival can enjoy a free one-month trial, after which a subscription will run BR$14.99 a month. The roll out will be staggered over the coming days, with most areas getting a price point equivalent to $7.99 in American currency and some having both English and Spanish language options. For more details check out the PR after the break and the chart above. [Thanks, Nicolas]
Netflix bringing instant streaming to Latin America, global domination plan on track
Soon enough, most of the western hemisphere will be able to enjoy Netflix Watch Instantly without the need for proxies and work-arounds. Later this year the company will add 43 countries in Central and South America, and the Caribbean to its list of supported locales. It will also wrap up its North American expansion by streaming flicks into the heart of Mexico. When exactly folks in Brazil and Trinidad will be able to sign up, and how much it will cost when it launches are still up in the air at the moment. One thing is certain though -- while Hulu is striking deals with the likes of Miramax and the Criterion Collection to bolster its library of feature length films, Netflix is building a global empire.
Win a not-quite-Endless cruise from Nintendo
If you haven't already, you kids might want to point your cursors towards EndlessOcean.com. Although doing so will mean you have to endure a few seconds of Endless Ocean's God-awful Enya-esque soundtrack (while you scrabble around frantically for the 'Mute' button), it could be totally worth it. See, Nintendo and Norwegian Cruise Line have combined to generously offer three lucky people a seven-day Caribbean cruise for two, on board a ship that looks a lot like the one above.It's all part of promoting Nintendo's casual gamer-friendly diving sim. Yours truly was rather grumbly about the game itself in our review but, y'know, free cruise. You can even enter once a day between now and February 29th, though if you're under 18 or not residing in the U.S., fuhgeddaboudit.%Gallery-4734%[Via press release]
EBGames has fun with WotLK listing
Reader Kevin G (thanks!) sent along a tip about EBGames having some fun on their listing for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. As you can see (we've saved the listing for posterity above), the entry jokes about the listed 11/03/08 release date being unofficial, and determined by overpowered warlocks rolling 20 sided dice. The price, listed at $40, is also made up, and they say that if the price jumps by more than $1,000, they're all headed off to the Caribbean. Considering how many copies Burning Crusade sold this year, yeah, no kidding.It's nice to see that EB is up for having a little fun with an unannounced release date. Good for them.
Island resort bans gadgets from beach
Thinking about heading for the beach on your next vacation, catching a couple of rays, and maybe making a business call or two before the tide comes in? Well, if you were planning on a trip to the renowned resort of Palm Island -- located in the Caribbean -- you might want to start considering a serious change of plans. According to recent reports, the tropical destination just put the kibosh on the use of mobile phones, PDAs, or laptops within a half-mile of the island's Casarina Beach, effectively squashing your dreams of million-dollar deals and an "all over" tan. In the words of resort CEO Rob Barrett, "There is nothing worse than lying back in your double hammock, sipping on your strawberry daiquiri and hearing the Motorola jingle in the background," and then suggested that customers, "switch off their mobiles and enjoy the sound of the lapping waves." In the future, Palm Island says it will aggressively mandate book-burning, suppression of the media, and totalitarianism in all forms.[Via The Raw Feed]
Sprint offers up 'unlimited' wireless plan for Puerto Rico, USVI
Those camped out in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands (lucky...) now have yet another wireless plan option courtesy of Sprint, and although that "unlimited" keyword may look enticing, it's enclosed in quotes for a reason. The firm's newest unlimited calling plan was reportedly developed specifically for the Sprint Caribbean market and is available for new and existing customers. The $49.99-per-month plan "includes all local and long distance calls received or generated within the local Puerto Rico and USVI coverage area, as well as long-distance calls from [Sprint] mobile to mobile." Of course, one call to the US mainland, and you'll be hit with a $0.25-per-minute fee as well as an additional $0.69-per-minute if you're roaming, so we'd keep it local if we were you.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 screens exist
We don't want to make any value judgments, so we'll stick to the facts. A Wii game based on Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End exists in some unreleased stage, and Jeux-France posted two screenshots of it, which we have posted here for you. The screens depict characters from the movie in what appear to be situations from the whole series. Sometimes the characters engage in combat against enemy characters. There is a display on the screen of the appropriate Wii controller motions for the situation.We don't want to speculate too much, but we're guessing that this game will be pressed onto discs and released to retailers near the time of the movie's release (late May). Should people want one of these discs containing the game, they will be able to obtain one in exchange for currency.[Via NeoGAF]
Pirates trailer: swords, guns, and a kraken
Our friends at Gamertag Radio have posted a new trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (the game, not the movie, silly). The game shows off some decent graphics and plenty of swashbuckling action. The trailer displays many different locations from the movie, ranging from Tortuga to the Flying Dutchman and of course the Black Pearl itself. The game features plenty of sword fighting as well as ranged combat. The character models look very nice -- we particularly like the animation of Jack Sparrow's signature walk -- although they're strangely silent. Hopefully, we'll see the original actors reprise their roles in the game as well. Finally, this game has a kraken. There just aren't enough krakens in games these days, really.Check out the video and tell us what you think.
NYCC: Pirates of the Burning Sea interview
Who doesn't love pirates? The answer seemed to be "no one" as Flying Labs' upcoming MMORPG was swamped with fans throughout the entire New York Comic Con weekend. Although this MMO has been fairly under the radar, it certainly deserves a little more attention. Pirates of the Burning Sea promises a lot of playability, from multiple fighting styles, to naval battles, barter, economics, and more. It's the kind of stuff not-leaving-the-house-ever is made of.Saying whether or not the team has been successful on capitalizing on their ambitions requires having a lot more time with the game. Thankfully, there is a public beta available for those that want to find out more. The game promises tons of missions, both offline and on. With cross-functionality with a planned Pirates of the Asian Sea, the whole ninja versus pirates debate can finally be settled ... in a far more artistic way than the Internet has ever portrayed it.Watch the video to get more info about the game. Be warned that it's incredibly long and will waste tons of your time. But that doesn't stop MMORPG players, right?
Joystiq hands-on: Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Last week, at the Bay Area Fencing Center, I got a chance to play Disney Online's Pirates of the Caribbean Online. With its variety of activities, the MMO is targeted at a more intermediate, casual audience than World of Warcraft and other online games. Beyond level grinding players can engage ship battles, venture through quests from characters in the Pirates movies, play card games, and try other pirate-based objectives.Pirates Online is based on the Toontown Online engine, meaning that a fairly old PC can still play. (Final requirements are still uncertain, but a P3 800 with 256MB RAM is the target.) But because of the low entry, the graphics are far from current standard; I saw a lot of blocky shapes and simple gradients. While good graphics would be ideal, I thought the visuals sufficiently conveyed the world.The Toontown engine's recent Mac conversion will also benefit Apple's gamers; Pirates Online will be released for OS X. The developers were excited about Mac prospects and hope to get the game out at the same time as the PC launch in the Spring, but Disney Interactive's official stance is that a Mac game is coming, but without any timeline.I had fun exploring Pirates of the Caribbean Online, taking the helm of ships, shouting arcane seafaring phrases, and swashbuckling. Keep reading to learn about pirate garb, fluid fighting, and massive ship battles.%Gallery-1491%
Arrr, matey: New Pirates of the Caribbean MMO deets
Disney's upcoming MMO based on the wildly successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise released some new assets this week, and you can peep the screenshots after the jump. For the more adventurous among you, try finding the developer's video diary on the Disney go.com site here. It ran our browser into rocky shores more than once, and we had to restart, so beware.This game won't match the depth of World of Warcraft, and it's looking a bit like MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach with pirate outfits on, but we have to admit it looks fun. You get to outfit your own pirate, rig out your ship and set out to make a name for yourself. Plus, you'll be able to interact with characters from the game, including Captain Jack Sparrow. Who knew that Disney would get such mileage out of Depp basically playing "a gay Keith Richards"? Those are the Disney execs words, not ours ... but if Keith Richards was a gay pirate, that might be pretty spot-on.The game runs on PCs and not Macs, which is a bit ironic considering that Disney bought Pixar earlier this year ... which was owned by Apple head honcho Steve Jobs. We suppose it's fitting, considering that most pirates are on PCs anyhow *ducks incoming cannon fire*.Check out the screenshots after the jump, and drink up me hearties, yo ho!
Blu-ray camp pumps up release list in Japan
In advance of their press conference tomorrow at the IFA in Berlin, the Blu-ray Disc Association was showing off their wares in Japan. They're promising 75 Blu-ray titles by year end, a few dual layer 50GB discs, the debut of h.264, you know the drill. Interestingly, the Japanese will be getting Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl this year while Disney's Buena Vista leaves the US with Paul Walker. They had a real Playstation 3 in attendance playing back high bit-rate encoded Blu-ray discs, although all we've seen is pics of the very PS2-reminiscent menu. Also on hand were other companies releasing Blu-ray products soon, mostly showing the same preview units we've seen since CES. Basically the theme was all is well, Blu-ray is on track, PS3, dual-layer and BD-J are coming, stay the course.Read - PS3 BD-ROM Playback Demonstration - ImpressRead - Blu-ray camp to offer 75 software titles in Japan - ReutersRead - Blu-ray disc simultaneous announcement - Impress
Bruckheimer gets his DS on
During the Japanese premiere event for the recently-released, and box-office-shattering, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the producer Jerry Bruckheimer sat down to chat about his interests in gaming as well as to play the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest game for the DS. While Google's Japanese-to-English translation software could use a little work, we were able to understand that Mr. Bruckheimer enjoys a bit of Oblivion now and again. Aside from that, he seems to support game tie-ins to movies as he feels the extra money is nice that the two experiences, exciting for the game and relaxing for the movie, complement each other well.[Update: Fixed a typo. Thanks DSGirl!]
Another Dead Man's Chest trailer and new screens
For those of you who love the antics of one Captain Jack Sparrow (and if you don't, why?), the 2nd official trailer for the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest game has been posted at Gamespot. Head on over and check it out as it has lots of action, showing Jack take down some natives, navigating environmental puzzles, and battling a gigantic squid. Along with the new trailer, there are also a plethora of new screens available centering around the naval combat that will be in the game.
